No-kidding: Nashville Sounds no-hit Omaha StormChasers

Chris Smith, Sean Doolittle, Tucker Healy and Simon Castro combined to throw the seventh no-hitter in Nashville Sounds’ franchise history when they held the Omaha StormChasers hitless on Wednesday night. The no-hitter was the first for the Sounds since 2007. Renato Nunez and Matt McBride both homered in the 4-0 win.

Smith got the Nashville pitching effort going with an outstanding six innings. He needed 93 pitches to throw those six hitless frames, striking out four and walking two. Doolittle, in his third rehab appearance (first with the Sounds), came on in the seventh and made quick work of Omaha in his one frame. He struck-out two and needed just 12 pitches to retire the side in order. Healy had the eighth and he was even more efficient, retiring the side on nine pitches. Castro made it a bit nerve-racking in the ninth when he walked Ruben Sosa with one-out. Castro buckled down and retired Raul Mondesi and Jorge Soler on groundouts to secure the no-no.

Your browser does not support iframes.
Smith put together his second straight outstanding start. On June 2nd, Smith threw six shutout innings against the Iowa Cubs, striking out eight and walking none. Smith lowered his ERA to 2.96 with his latest gem.
Doolittle’s outing was another positive step in his rehab from a shoulder strain. He has thrown three one-inning outings for High-A Stockton and Nashville and hasn’t allowed a base-runner in those three frames. He has struck-out five. Healy lowered his ERA to 1.59, best among Nashville relievers this season. He has allowed a lot of base-runners this season (32 in 22.2 innings), but he has managed to work his way out of a lot of jams, although not on Wednesday night.

Nunez’s homer was his team-leading 16th of the season. He has four homers over his last eight games and is now batting .270 with a 907 OPS for the season.

A day after hitting two homers, Jaff Decker had another big night, going 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Other News

— The Midland RockHounds dropped a see-saw battle with the San Antonio Missions, 8-6. The Missions scored twice off of Kyle Finnegan in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the win. Viosergy Rosa led the way offensively for the RockHounds, collecting three hits, including a double. Brett Vertigan reached base three times with a hit and two walks. Midland is now four back of San Antonio in the division.

— The Beloit Snappers scored twice in the second and twice more in the third and made those runs hold up in a 4-3 win over the Burlington Bees. Zack Erwin allowed three runs (two earned) in 3.2 innings in his third start since joining the club from Extended Spring Training. It was the first start in which Erwin allowed a run. Xavier Altamarino got the win with 3.1 innings of scoreless relief and Sam Sheehan nailed down his third save of the season with two scoreless frames. Sheehan has been a revelation since arriving from Extended. He allowed three runs in his second outing and hasn’t been scored over his last 8.1 innings. On the year, Sheehan has 15 strike-outs in 11 innings pitched. Luis Barrera had three hits to raise his average to .314 and Edwin Diaz upped his average to .282 with a two-hit game.
— After mounting a two-run comeback in the ninth to force extra-innings, the DSL A’s dropped a tough one to the DSL Red Sox, 6-5, in 10 innings. Marcos Brito and Jose Rivas each had two hits. Lazaro Armenteros recorded his first hit as a member of the A’s organization, a single.